Hollywood, Contradiction and Ridicule

The Hollywood that applauds Oprah Winfrey’s speech is the same that applauds Roman Polanski, someone who confessed to having drugged and sexually abused a 13-year-old girl.

Hollywood is a bottomless pit of contradictions, a world truly apart from common mortals. The American film industry’s sex scandal and the excitement around Oprah Winfrey’s Golden Globe speech make this idea even more evident.

Oprah, the most well-known and powerful person in American television, who has an extraordinary life story marked by a constant overcoming of difficulties, living proof of social mobility promoted by open and free economies, made a speech at the Golden Globes which was considered by many people as the launch pad for her presidential candidacy in 2020.

A speech, in order to be acclaimed by almost everyone, should be empty, without purpose, light, ideally with an anti-Trump scent and send only a message in which we all believe. The speech was a tremendous success, fulfilling all those requirements. After all, no one should be in favor of sexual harassment, approving the behavior of men who take advantage of their position to get sexual favors, nor agree with the control of the press. In a normal world this is true; in the world of Hollywood, not so much.

The Hollywood which applauds Oprah’s speech is the same one which applauded Roman Polanski when he won the Oscar for best director for the film “The Pianist” in 2003. This was the same man who confessed to having drugged and sexually abused a 13-year-old girl — a child whom he was photographing for an American magazine. When he realized that he was facing jail as a consequence of this, he fled to Europe, where he continues to face arrest by the United States. This director’s case is classic, combining the abuse of power, drugs, sexual harassment and even pedophilia. But that did not stop him from being applauded by the same men and women who now shout #MeToo.

The reference to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which gave the impression that the U.S. press is going through hard times, an obvious allusion to Donald Trump, emphasizes the contradiction which those people live. Hollywood’s beloved president — Barack Obama — was considered the greatest threat to the free press in U.S. history. His administration harassed journalists, tapped cell phones, had indiscriminate access to email and private correspondence. The Obama administration sued six government employees, accusing them of espionage. Before Obama, this had only happened three times in all of American history. Messages like “This is the most closed, control freak administration I’ve ever covered” (David E. Sanger, journalist for The New York Times) or “It’s turning out to be the administration of unprecedented secrecy and unprecedented attacks on a free press” (Margaret Sullivan, editor of The New York Times) refer to the Obama administration rather than that of Trump or Bush.

It’s all so ridiculous and sad that it’s hard to believe it’s true. With so many contradictions coming from these people, it is extraordinary that we look at them as something more than entertainment.